Textbooks of Punjab Textbook Board are not available

No textbooks despite start of new academic year
Rawalpindi, Apr 09: The new academic year has started from April 1 but
many textbooks of Punjab Textbook Board are still not available in the
market, causing immense problems for the students of government
schools.

Parents have urged the concerned authorities to
ensure the availability of textbooks in the market, so that children
could start their studies without wasting time.

According to a
survey conducted, many textbooks of Punjab Textbook Board
including mathematics books of Class 3, 7 and 8, science book of Class
7, and books of chemistry, physics and biology of Class 10 are not
available in the market, whereas parents and students are trying their
level best to find these unavailable books, as teachers are forcing the
students to bring books at the earliest.

Waseem Ahmed said that his son is studying in Class 10 in a government school and
searched the books of physics, biology and chemistry in almost all
markets of Rawalpindi, but these books are not available. He said his
son is extremely worried, as his teachers have ordered all the students
to bring books as soon as possible.

He urged the concerned
authorities to ensure the availability of textbooks in the market and
also requested the schoolteachers to at least understand the issue of
unavailability of books and not force the children to bring them.

Aslam
Khan, another father, said the new academic year has started without
the availability of textbooks in the market. He said he has been
searching for the mathematics book of Class 8 for the last one week,
but all in vain, as the book is still not available anywhere.

Booksellers
in Urdu Bazaar and Saddar said that the parents' complaints
about the non-availability of books is correct, adding that they were
informed in March that the books would be provided to them in a few
days but they are still waiting for their arrival.

When we contacted the official spokesperson of Punjab Textbook Board
Muhammad Abid, he said only the textbooks of Class 5 are not available
in the market, as we have released all textbooks and they would be
available in all cities after one day. He also claimed that the
textbooks of Class 3, 7, 8 and 10 are available in the market, as these
books were released in time.

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City, Country: FAISALABAD,PAKISTAN

Students hold rally for Seraiki province
Islamabad: A large number of students belonging to various
educational institutions of the twin cities staged a rally here on
Thursday to push their demand of a separate province for the Seraiki
people, who according to them, are still yearning for their identity at
the national level.

Carrying placards inscribed with slogans
in favour of the Seraiki province, the participants of the rally urged
the government to accept their 'genuine appeal' for a separate province
and incorporate it into the 18th Constitutional Amendment, which is
going to be passed in the parliament.

They alleged that the
Seraiki people living across the country are being denied their
'legitimate right' of identity and they are subjected to political,
social, cultural, economic and administrative subjugation. They
lamented unending deprivation and alienation of the Seraiki people and
asked the government to reconsider the constitutional draft package for
incorporation of their demands for creation of a separate province,
awarding quota in services and educational institutions and giving
appropriate representation at all national forums.

They
appreciated the government's decision to make poverty a criterion in
resource distribution, but they were apprehensive of sincerity of the
Punjab government to allocate proportionate development fund to
backward and poverty-stricken Seraiki region.

Speaking on the
occasion, Mutahir Malik, a student of the Quaid-i-Azam University, said
that they congratulate people of all provinces on securing provincial
autonomy and their due share in the National Finance Commission Award,
but it is also necessary to consider them equal to other nationalities
by creating the Seraiki province.

"It was shocking to find
that the parliamentarians did not consider plight of the Seraiki
people, hence leaving the constitutional package incomplete and
ineffective for them. We are afraid that without giving us right to
rule ourselves, they have put us at the mercy of the Punjab
administration which is always bent to suppress their genuine voice,"
he said.

The
colourful event was enriched by 'ghazals', songs and poems of Faiz and
other national poets that were sung and recited by the school faculty
and guests.

Tauqeer Nasir, director general of the Pakistan
National Council of the Arts (PNCA), appreciated the contents of the
colourful programme alongside the ambience, poetry and melodious
singing, and termed it an appreciative celebration of spring. He later
distributed prizes among the winners of different games and
competitions.

On the occasion, special guest Dr. Salman Asif
highlighted the importance of Urdu language in our lives as a symbol of
our identity. He lauded the school's efforts for holding the event and
emphasised the significance of reading poetry (especially Faiz) and
literature in the current context, as it would facilitate in
strengthening our spirit.

Earlier, Grammar School Director
Nasreen Iqbal welcomed the guests and appreciated the remarkable role
played by teachers in the holistic development of the students. She
said that spring is a time of renewal, celebration and change,
therefore, "we must renew our efforts to bring enrichment in the lives
of our children for a brighter and more meaningful future for them".

IIU seminar
Islamabad: The International Islamic University (IIU) will hold a one-day seminar on 'Educational Vision:
Aims and Objectives-A Critical Examination of National Education
Policy-2009' on April 10 (Saturday). The seminar is being arranged in
connection with its silver jubilee celebrations at Faisal Mosque Campus
of the university.

Students exhibit artistic streaks on third day at PMAS-AAUR
Rawalpindi: The third day of the ongoing Students' Week at Pir
Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi (PMAS-AAUR) here
Thursday saw students take part in an art exhibition and drama
competition.

A large number of students, visitors and faculty
members visited the art exhibition and appreciated the efforts of
fertile minds of the young artists. They were of the view that such
types of competition encourage amateur artists to further develop their
artistic skills and imagination.

Bilal
Hassan of AAUR's Agriculture Faculty secured the first position while
Humera Khatoon and Sidra Kiran of Women Division secured second and
third positions respectively for their artworks.

In the
inter-faculty drama competition, seven teams participated to convey the
message of love, peace and harmony among humanity, and presented that
now it's Pakistani youth's responsibility to play their due role for
the country's peace, progress and prosperity. The audiences appreciated
the efforts of the amateur student performers and their acting skills.

The
judges of the drama competition were Salman Tahir Shah and Muhammad
Khalid Jalal of Rawalpindi Arts Council. The Women Division team got
the first position while the teams of Agriculture Faculty and
University Institute of Information Technology (UIIT) got second and
third positions respectively.

A three-day book fair, organised
by the University library as part of the Week, also concluded on
Thursday. A large number of students visited the book fair that
displayed around 30,000 books. The students bought books of their
interest on natural, social and management sciences, agriculture,
information technology and other topics. A large number of books of
Indian, European and American authors were also available for sale.

Distinction in Human Resource Development
Islamabad: Lieutenant Colonel (r) Muhammad
Asif Khan has been awarded PhD degree in Human Resource Development by
the National University of Modern Languages, says a press release. The
dissertation of Muhammad Asif Khan has been supervised by Professor Dr.
Rashid Ahmed Khan, and evaluated and approved by six national and two
eminent professors from USA and UK.

Three schools blown up in Peshawar
Peshawar: Militants blew up three government-run schools in the suburban areas of
the provincial metropolis early Thursday, police sources said. They
said the first blast occurred at 2 a.m. in the Government Girls High
School in Landi Arbab, which damaged the building. Likewise, the
sources said, unidentified terrorists blew up the Middle School for
Boys in Sufaid Dheri soon after the first explosion. The third
explosion occurred at Government Primary School, Bacha Garhi situated
in Regi Lalma area. Police officials said the blast badly damaged
walls, rooms, windows and doors of the classrooms of the school. No
casualty was, however, reported in all the three incidents. The news